The Respository
by cerfh
Summary: Heavily AU in progress. The cycle never ends, the Reapers have defeated the combined Prothean and Human fleets, not all hope is lost one ship the Repository, holds their hope for revenge a way to surrive and rebuild, to guide the next cycle against the Reapers. ON HOLD
1. chapter 1

**51952 BGS***

Humanity and the Protheans amongst many smaller races built vast stellar empires upon the ruins of the long dead lnusannon race. For thousands of years both powers held the dominant positions of power throughout the relay network.

A cold war fought with foot soldier races and proxys races was seen as the natural evolution of Human - Prothean relations and so with each new step in the conflict few in either government suspected any exterior influence to be the cause of the two super powers state of war.

This lack of suspicion ended with the fall of the Human colony of Tiber a militaristic planet which formed one of the core pillars to the defense of Humanity's space that was hosting the latest in a long line of unsuccessful peace talks.

the galactic order was truly shattered above Tiber when the Rachni were unleashed, an unknown foe that overwhelmed the local planetary defenses, the Human 3rd fleet and the Prothean ambassadors escorts. In the heart of the swarm lay a ship that dwarfed all others both Prothean and Human, a squid shaped vessel far different from conventional design. Sovereign has stepped out of the shadows to show himself and triggered the end of the cycle.

The loss of Tiber lead to confusion and eventual open war between both factions. This allows Sovereign the chance to move on the Citadel using his indoctrinated Rachni to call forth his brethren from dark space. The following decapitation of the Prothean empire throws the last vestiges of galaxy wide order to the wind. The cycle will continue and there is little that can be done to stop it.

 **50731BGS**

Admiral Cole was a tired man, the last remaining Admiral of note left in the ever dwindling military. He has been leading the Human forces in what he knows is the end game in the near 1200 year Reaper war. Old political divisions long gone his "resistance fleet" contains both Prothean and Human ships. With the loss of the home worlds and all notably colonies they stand guard over Carthage a resource poor colony spared in the war so far. Once nothing more than a penal colony it now harbours the political and military vestiges of the former superpowers.

Cole knew that he was going to die as one by one the few remaining friendly contacts across the stars went quite, it was only a matter of time until the Reapers found his forces. The last hope for both Races and the reason that he fights on is the Repository.

The brain child of a faceless administrator from the Office of Naval Intelligence who concluded that there was no winning the current war of attrition. The Repository aims to beat the Reapers by expoliting the cycle, it's a ship 10km long 2km wide cylindrical in shape that holds the collective knowledge of the Human race and Prothean empire. Asides from the data banks it also holds the genetic information for 1 million refugees and an artificial intelligence specifically designed to aid in the reclamation of both species.

 **50723BGS**

The Respository is launched from Carthage, it heads out into the void to the space between relays far away from any system ever scouted. It will spend 10,000 years in the void drifting through the stars on a long journey avoiding all potential contact until the core directive deems it safe to return to known space and build anew what was lost before.

After the lauch all knowledge of the project is purged under the order of Admrial Cole as to avoid the ship falling into Reaper hands. Three months later on the 21st of June in the old Earth calendar the Reapers flood through the in system relay. In a final act of defiance after the loss of most of the defending fleet and the Reapers have moved in for orbital bombardment Admiral Cole triggers the Ragnarok protocol. burried deep within the crust of Carthage several devices are triggered mass effect fields spread to cover the surface dramatically increasing the mass of the planet for a few short seconds. The resulting implosion of Carthage wipes out everything and destroys 400 Reaper capital ships.

His last words a mix of hope, pride and vengeance "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori"

 **Hey guys so this an idea I had that I wanted to get down on paper. Not entirely sure if it will develop into a full length fic but there will be several more chapters after this short introduction up to the point of first contact. This is going to be pure Mass Effect despite the occasional Halo name drop obviously heavily AU.**

 ***BGS =before galactic standard. 0GS is the foundation date of the Citadel in Mass Effect.**


	2. Per aspera ad astra

**10000 BGS**

A small alarm triggers a change in the silent ship. The countdown has ceased and a suitable system has been reached.

Alan Turning a 6th generation human AI wakes from his final phase of dormancy as the computers turn on a diagnostic is run and it is found that 40,000 years have passed instead of the planned 10,000.This is alarming yet it doesn't change the directive of the mission. Regardless Alan presses ahead and turns his sensors to the new home system.

Outside the ship a system perfect for his prime directive, a rich asteroid belt, two gas Giants with moons suitable for both mining and habitation along with three planets which could be terraformed in future. In the distance a pale blue dot, a cradle amongst the stars, one from which the last cycle will rise again.

Alan directs the ship into orbit around the garden world and follows the protocol set out by his Creators. Probes are sent down to scout the best location for future settlements along with worker drones to complete the basic facilities needed for the colony. In space from the side of the Repository fourteen 200 meter ships exit. they are divided into three task groups.

Task group Sentry; three ships are sent to the nearest systems with relays to stand guard and provide a warning for any activity.

Task group Salamis; Ten ships are sent into the belt their task to audit the resources available and to build copies of themselves.

The final ship is tasked with using the relay network to scout the remains of Earth and Prothea along with several colonies to check for Reaper activity and see if there is anything worth salvaging. Although inefficient it is required to keep a low profile until the industry can be rebuilt.

Each ship is primitive by the standards of the previous cycle. Piloted by an AI they are designed to be easily built providing assets needed for reclamation within the first hundred years of settlement of the newly named world, **Invicta**.

 **9990 BGS**

The first human is born, cloned from the genetic catalogue of Carthagean refugees. Months later the Protheans also rise from the ashes. Priority is given to those who were successful or powerful genetic donors, this cycle needs leaders after all. Thanks to the Prothean ability to learn from touch the timeline for reskilling the population is dramatically reduced as each discipline needs only one subject exposed to intense training to spread their knowledge. Thanks to the examination of the Rachni hive mind in addition to Human Prothean Co operation during the war an equivalent ability is available to humans in the form of an implant that links directly to the spinal cord.

The fleet currently stands at 500 ships, an appropriate amount given the desire to keep a low profile. Each is war capable but relegated to transport of resources for fuel the planned industrialisation of the new home world.

 **9710 BGS**

Adam the first born human reaches adulthood and learns of his history. Taken into space by Alan the truth about his heritage is explained. As the year's progress this knowledge spreads throughout the population and by the time the first city with a population over a million graces the surface of Invicta, Proterra will be the capital of the new empire and serve as the spring board for future expansion.

Review of mandatory war education of subject Adam_H001... opening file name: ALEXANDRIA.

" _If you're seeing this then the plan has worked. Alan has found a suitable world for the seeding of our alliance in the new cycle. to date, you have been told that you are part of a sleeper ship for a primitive alliance lacking ftl travel. This is not the whole truth but the information was deemed necessary to ensure stable mental development during the formative years.."_

 _"My name is Fleet Admiral Marcus Aurelius and you are the product of a failsafe set in motion in the result of our loss in this war"._

 _"In 4852 Humanity was attacked, not by the races known to us nor insurgency from within. They came in a swarm, the Rachni a species not unlike the common insects of Terra. The Rachni were a space faring hive mind which was unknown to us prior to the fall. external forces were hard at work as we soon discovered, the Reapers as you can see from this reconstruction of the battle of Tiber are cuttlefish shaped ships that outclassed everything that was fielded by both militaries to large degrees. They are the ones who control the cycle and the progression of races in this galaxy"._

 _"The Reaper took control of the Rachni and used them to call forth his brothers from the dark space beyond the galactic rim. what followed was nothing short of a slaughter. The head of the Prothean government was destroyed at their capital. originally thought to have been built by an older race and subsequently abandoned and lost in the widow nebula it served as a focal point for galactic civilization due to it being at the centre of the relay network"._

 _"The station had a more nefarious purpose than initially thought, it served as a mass relay in its own right connecting dark space to the heart of the Prothean empire. Tens of thousands of Reapers flooded through and laid waste to our defences. Our forces joined with the Protheans as we too were pushed back star after star until all but a handful remained we hope that with the... ..we can.. tide...chance..."_

recording end* data corruption *

a new hologram appears in front of Adam.

" _my name is Admiral Cole and these are the stories of the final days of humanity"_

Adam stared at the hologram, it seemed different. Unlike the last man this one looked old. grey hair but his true age lied within his eyes, although a hologram it was still a recording and the suffering of the man was evident in his eyes. There was no hope here no optimism like at the end of the last message simply a solemn acceptance of his fate.

 _we made our final serious stand in Sol but it was at Carthage that we fought viciously for we knew we had to hold out for the ship to get away so the new generation could avenge us. The best advice I can give you young one is to avoid their trap, the reapers have designed the galaxy so that civilizations develop along pre determined paths, the relays are not ours to control and should be avoided at all costs. Alan has access to the black book projects these are the last ditch efforts of our best and brightest to give our forces an edge over the Reapers. Slipspace was discovered 4 years prior to the fall of Carthage and it allows for non-relay long term ftl travel, build your colonies far from the network and you will have already have a better fighting chance than we did_.

 _This ship is called a Hadrian class dreadnought their main cannon is the closest we came to destroying a Reaper in one shot, use these along with carriers to protect your world they served us well and with any luck, they will do so for you too. There is a dreadnought which we have left for you, it was in construction when we discovered the Reaper fleet inbound to Carthage. Luckily the slip space engines were installed and we were able to evacuate the ship to the void. This file includes the location of the ship, I hope it serves you well in your work._

 _There were several efforts to survive the cycle, but due to the ongoing war and the reaper control of the relay system we lost contact with other colonies as far we I know you are the only hope for both for the Prothean and Human species. There was talk of bunkers and civilians on ice, I don't know if anything was built but keep it in mind while you spread out.Your leaders are the Shepards of the alliance now young one. Goodbye and good luck, dont let our deaths be in vain_.

 **9520 BGS**

The population of Invicta reaches 400 million, the ancient recovered dreadnought renamed Sol's Revenge has been upgraded and repaired, it now serves as the flagship of the ever growing fleet. Over the last hundred years ships have spread out along the relay network cataloguing the races of the new cycle. Cloaked satellites are left in each home system to monitor their progress. Particularly attention is paid to the Asari given their apparent artificial origins. The Alliance scientists speculate that their monogender close appearance to humans and their meld attributes are the result of Prothean medeling with the proto Asari. However this theory can unfortunately not be confirmed due to the lack of information lost in the fall.

It is also noted with slight amusement that the Protheans are being worshipped by an aquatic species. This religion is seen as a quirk of bad luck, the result of a crashed Prothean frigate near the planets northern pole. It is assumed that as the species developes over time that the religion will fall out of favour and hence little further attention is paid to the Hanar.

 **5279 BGS**

The population of the Invicta system reaches 10 billion, four planets are now habitable along with several moons serving as settlements for domed cities. Now the capital system of the Alliance which encompasses several stars all outside of the relay network. Due to the fear of the reaper threat expansion has been slow with the alliance instead opting to focus on developing their current possessions to the fullest.

 **2754 BGS**

a lone ship drifts through space. The ship serves as another ark for the continuation of a species from the last cycle. On board a single Rachni egg, time has crippled the ship and unlike the alliance the rachni were not blessed with good luck. The VI inboard leads the ship to the nesrest relay in the hope of finding a planet to land on before the ships systems fail completely.

the relay chosen by the VI is will become infamous in the future surrounded by mystery, the lone Rachni ship approaches the Omega 4 relay.

 **Hey guys just a quick note to say a juge thanks to everyone who has reviewed followed or favourited the story. I was completely overwhelmed by the reception it got so i felt compelled to try get another chapter up asap. Unfortunately I'm away at the moment on vacation so I'm limited in how much i can write on a phone. That being said expect longer chapters in future!**

 **Please review if youve got any questions or ideas for how this story should progress.**

 ** _currently_** ** _looking for a beta reader if interested please dm*_**

 **Till next time, all the best Cerfh**


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